Avalanche order: highest APR first. Ties are broken by smallest balance.
The four rows below are filled in as an example only, using the balances, minimum payments and rates published on Calculator.net's debt payoff calculator page. Overwrite them with your own numbers, or press Reset to bring the example back.
Want the other method on the same numbers? Run the debt snowball calculator — it works out smallest-balance-first and puts both methods side by side.
Payoff order and when each debt clears
| # | Debt | APR | Starting balance | Clears in month | Interest on it |
|---|
How the avalanche method works
You list every debt with its balance, minimum payment and APR. You pay the minimum on all of them. Every extra dollar you have goes to the debt with the highest APR, regardless of how big the balance is. When that one is gone, the money you were sending to it rolls onto whatever now has the highest APR, and so on. Because the extra payment always attacks your most expensive debt, this order costs the least interest of any ordering.
What it does not optimise for is momentum. If your highest-rate debt is also your biggest, your first "win" can be a long way off. That is the trade-off, and it is the only reason the other method exists.
How the order is decided here
One rule, no options: sort by APR, highest first. Two debts with the same APR are ordered by balance, smallest first, so the plan is stable rather than arbitrary. The calculator works the order out from the numbers you type — you do not sort anything yourself.
order = debts sorted by APR descending, ties by balance ascending
The formulas, so you can check the result
Monthly rate
The APR is a yearly figure, so the monthly rate is a twelfth of it.
monthly rate = APR / 12 / 100
Interest comes off before the payment lands
Each month, one month of interest is added to every balance still outstanding, and only then is that month's payment taken off.
balance = balance + balance × monthly rate − payment
What each debt gets that month
Every debt gets its minimum. The debt at the top of the avalanche order also gets your extra, plus the minimum of every debt already cleared.
payment on the target = its minimum + your extra + minimums already freed
payment on everything else = its own minimum
Months to clear one debt
With a balance B, monthly rate r and a payment P that stays fixed, the number of months is the standard amortization result:
months = −ln(1 − B × r / P) / ln(1 + r) (or B / P when r is 0)
The calculator runs this month by month rather than in one shot, because a debt's payment changes the moment an earlier debt in the order clears.
Where the clearing month comes from
clearing month = the month the running balance first reaches zero
Where the example numbers come from
The four rows pre-filled in the calculator are the balances, minimum payments and APRs published on Calculator.net's debt payoff calculator page. They are there so the tool does something when you land on it. They are not typical and they are not a recommendation — overwrite them.
Limits worth knowing
- Minimums are a fixed dollar amount. Real card minimums are usually a percentage of the balance with a floor. This does not model that.
- Rates are held constant. A promotional rate that expires part-way through will change the real outcome.
- No fees. Late fees, annual fees and over-limit fees are not modelled.
- One currency. U.S. dollars, no FX conversion.
- Safety cap. If the payment never covers the monthly interest, the run stops at 600 months (50 years) and says so.
FAQ
What is the debt avalanche method?
A payoff strategy that orders your debts from highest APR to lowest. You pay the minimum on everything and direct every extra dollar at the highest-rate debt. When it clears, that payment rolls onto the next-highest rate.
Is an avalanche calculator the same thing as a debt avalanche calculator?
Yes. "Avalanche calculator" and "debt avalanche calculator" are two ways of saying the same thing — a calculator that sorts your debts by interest rate instead of by balance. Whichever one you searched for, the tool at the top of this page is it.
What about "avalanche method calculator" and "debt avalanche method calculator"?
Also the same tool. Adding "method" is just how some people say it. All of those names describe one thing: minimums everywhere, every spare dollar at the highest APR, and each freed-up minimum rolling down the list.
Is an avalanche debt method calculator something different?
No — that is a fourth way of writing the same phrase, with the words in a different order. There is no separate tool behind it. This page runs the highest-rate-first plan, whichever of those wordings you arrived with.
Should I use avalanche or snowball?
Avalanche costs less interest. Snowball — smallest balance first — gets you an earlier visible win. Which of those matters more depends on whether you are optimising for money or for staying with the plan. The debt snowball calculator runs both on the same numbers and shows the difference in dollars, which beats picking on faith.
Do I need to sign up or give an email?
No. Open the page, type your numbers, press Calculate. There is no account, no form and no email field anywhere on this page.
Does it save or send what I type?
No. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged. Refresh and it is gone.
Why is my first win so far away?
That is the avalanche trade-off: if your highest-rate debt is also your largest, it takes a while to clear. It is still the cheapest ordering overall — it just front-loads the waiting.